There seems to be a stiff competition taking place to fill the position of the second opener to partner Kraigg Brathwaite in the West Indies Test team for the next Test series against Bangladesh. Several players are apparently eyeing that position and are beginning to put in creditable performances in an effort to impress the selectors.
Among the players probably in consideration for this spot are: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the son of one Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Kieran Powell, and John Campbell. Jeremy Solozano, who was unfortunately replaced by John Campbell, after he was injured in his debut Test match, seems now to be struggling with the bat. With recent scores of 0, 4, 6 and 14, there is now little chance that he will even be considered for selection in the next Test series against Bangladesh. The other players I just mentioned above are the likely ones to be considered.
But let’s look at each of these players to determine which one merits selection, as Kraigg’s opening partner.
John Campbell, as the incumbent, and the opener who was selected by the present selection panel, will be the clear favorite. The selectors may decide to continue with him, as an opener, and partner to Brathwaite, and his latest knock of 98 could help his chances. Campbell does have great potential as an opening batsman. That cannot be denied. He is powerfully built and when in good form strikes the ball quite well. In my opinion, though, John Campbell has been tried and tested as a Test opening batsman and ‘has been found wanting’. In the last Test against England, he had mediocre scores of 35, 22, 4, 10 and 35. I did not mention his score of 6 in the second innings of the third and final Test simply because West Indies did win that Test and the series with it, leaving Campbell not out on 6 with Kraigg Brathwaite who made 20 not out. Those scores are not encouraging at all and one hope’s that the Desmond Haynes selection panel would now admit that they made an error by recalling John Campbell to the Test team and would now make an attempt to choose more wisely this time. Because really, can we continue with John Campbell? Should we? And what about Kieron Powell who, like Campbell has failed as a Test opener?
Powell caught the eyes of the selectors in 2011, when he scored his first FC century. It was a fine display of batting. He scored a blistering 131, against the visiting English Lions in early 2011, and that prompted the selectors to blood him into the Test side. However, there was nothing substantial about his Test debut. He only managed scores of 3 and 4 versus India at Windsor Park in his maiden outing. He came back strongly in 2012 against Bangladesh and became the first West Indies batsman to hit two hundreds in a Test, since Brian Lara in 2001. Powell was selected for West Indies tour of India in November 2013, but faltered against a ruthless Indian bowling attack. There are some players who can’t seem to transfer good form from FC cricket to Test cricket, and Powell apperars to be one such player. John Campbell may be another of those players. Should we therefore go back to either of these two players, even if they seem to be performing reasonably well in the ongoing FC tournament?
Powell is 32 years of age with a Test average of only 25.76. He has played 44 test matches, scoring 3 centuries and 7 half-centuries. He undoubtedly has the ability as an opener, but in my opinion, his time has long gone. John Campbell has played 18 Test matches thus far, and has an average of 23.30, with only 2 half-centuries and no centuries to his name.
The question we must now ask ourselves is this. Do the other two contenders merit selection to the Test team to fill the post of opener? Both have put in creditable performances in this year’s four-day tournament, but the issue of inconsistency continues to plague most of our batsmen. Tagenarine Chanderpaul has also been criticized for his slow strike rate. Many argue that it will not wise to have two opening batsmen with very low strike rates at the top of the order. This is a weak argument. We need to choose the best player to open the batting with Kraigg Brathwaite, regardless of strike rate. Occupation of the crease is more important at the International level. We need our openers to set a solid foundation for our middle-order batsmen to build on, so that West Indies can reach match-winning targets.
To determine how potentially good Tagenarine Chanderpaul is, let us take a short look at his profile. Like his father, young Tagenarine Chanderpaul has shown that he possesses the same level of grit and determination, which by the way, is so sadly lacking in many of our players. He values his wicket and his level of concentration is exceptionally good. Tagenarine may have fine-tuned his skills at the Under-17 and Under-19 levels. He made his First-Class debut for Guyana against the Leeward Islands, playing alongside his dad in March 2013. From then on he grew from strength to strength. Tagenarine showed his immense talent and potential in the Under-19 World Cup in the UAE in 2014, striking 293 runs in 6 encounters including a century and two fifties.
Chandrapaul Hemraj the last of the contenders is a naturally-gifted batman, who like Tagenarine has a left-handed batting style. He is easily one of the classiest opening batsmen in the region but suffers from inconsistency. He has represented West Indies at the under-19 level and has been a part of the West Indies A team.
From the shortlist above, my choice for the opening partner for Kraigg Brathwaite for West Indies’ upcoming Test series against Bangladesh is Tagenarine Chanderpaul.